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CT scan may help smokers Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli With the help of radiologist technician Sandy Epple, Sue Rhodes climbs on a table in preparation for a CT scan of her lungs. Dr. R.C. Sinnott, left, of Medford Radiological Group, believes the lung CT scans could detect some lung cancers earlier. By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune Sue Rhodes can't pick up a cigarette without thinking about a tiny spot in her chest. "It makes me think I should quit smoking," said the Gold Hill woman, a smoker for 30 of her 45 years. "But I think I'm quite addicted. "I've tried everything to quit, short of hypnosis and acupuncture." Rhodes' suspicious spot surfaced this week when Dr. R.C. Sinnott studied images of her lungs from a CT scan. She's one of the first local patients to undergo a controversial screening procedure that Sinnott and other radiologists believe will add years to some smokers' lives. "We know 85 percent of lung cancers are caused by smoking," Sinnott said. "Right now we can do very little for people who have lung cancer," he added. "We're spending large sums to give them three to six months of life." Images from a CT scan reveal tiny abnormalities that are invisible on an ordinary X-ray. Sinnott, who practices at Medford Radiological Group, recently began offering lung scans to smokers with the hope of finding cancer before it's too late to treat them. He'll scan Rhodes' lungs again in a few months to see whether the spot has changed. Sinnott sees two potential benefits to the procedure. "If we can find an early cancer, there's definitely an increased survivability for the patient. People we're not going to save will know sooner that they're sick. They'll get maybe a year instead of three to six months. To me, I'd like to know when I'm going to go." He estimates that 60 to 70 percent of patients whose lung cancers are removed early could live at least 10 years. Currently, only about 9 percent of patients diagnosed with lung cancer are alive five years after they are diagnosed. Medical researchers disagree over whether the scans will actually save lives. Medical journals note that CT scans uncover many false positives as well as some cancers that are already too advanced to be treated. The false positives may require additional diagnostic tests (such as a needle biopsy) or even surgery to determine whether suspicious nodules might be cancerous. "The question is whether finding (lung) cancer early makes a difference," Sinnott said. "There's not enough data to indicate whether lives would be saved," he said. "It doesn't have enough of a track record to justify it." He noted that CT scans have been used in Japan and some parts of Europe for the past 10 years to look for lung cancers. Medical insurance does not pay for the procedure, which costs about $300. Sinnott said some people will pay for the examination out of pocket despite the cost. "Three hundred dollars is a small amount of money in terms of a lot of things we do," he said. "Information is worth a lot to some people." Sinnott said traditional X-rays have little value as a diagnostic tool for finding lung cancers because X-ray films do not show small tumors that can be removed before the disease spreads. "They're virtually invisible until it's too late," he said. A CT scanner sees smaller tumors because it makes a series of cross-sectional images of the chest. The images are displayed like individual slices from a loaf of bread. Viewed in sequence, they provide far more information than an X-ray. "The scanner takes real tiny slices across your lungs," he said. "We're looking for 5 millimeter (.2-inch) nodules." Sinnott started the push for scanning smokers' lungs after seeing four patients with advanced, two-inch tumors that were invisible on chest X-rays. "For the most part, by the time we find lung cancer it's too late," he said. His family history also spurred him to act. "My father died of lung cancer," he said. "His sister didn't smoke, and she's 87." For him the procedure means more work because there are dozens of pictures to look at instead of one. "I can look at an X-ray in a minute or two," he said. "This will take more focused time to get through it. It's much more difficult than reading a chest X-ray." Sinnott said lung cancer's proven connection with tobacco smoke makes the CT screening procedure most useful for long-term smokers. There would be no reason, financially, for non-smokers to have a lung scan, "and even for people who were exposed to secondhand smoke, the odds (of finding a cancer) are pretty low." Rhodes, the Gold Hill smoker, thinks tobacco users will find the exam valuable, whatever it tells them. "It could be good for their peace of mind," she said, if the results are negative. "Or it may be really good to help them quit smoking." People who want to know more about CT scans for lung cancer can call Medford Radiological Group, 773-6251. Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.